The bright one's miss-wandering
by JuanCaCR35
Summary: A short story, based on Alan Wake: Dalia, one of the few people left who's soul is without corruption, is warned of her downfall.


The bright one's miss-wandering

Dalia found herself to be in a long, deep black hall, with no recollection as to how, or why, was she there. There was no lighting at all, she could barely see her hand in front of her face. She would've never been able to tell the shape of the hall if it hadn't been for the framed paintings hanging from the arc like walls, which she couldn't figure why they seemed to be lit by themselves, without any visible source.

Dalia started walking, gazing at the paintings as she went. The hall seemed to go on forever, curving and going up and down, as if it had been built atop soft hills. The paintings were pleasant at the beginning: a renaissance like dressed lady in a swing, a man sitting by a lake's shore in a flower field, but they were degrading in their theme and quality as she went on down the hall. The first one to startle her was a portrait done in dark earth tones, of a woman from shoulders up, who seemed to be gasping for air.

As the hall went on, she found the paintings to disturb her even more. A dog barking at another, pinned down on the ground, looked to be painted by smearing the canvas with bare hands. A served dinner table, the food on the plates now rotten and full of maggots. A man in mid fall from a risk. Dalia was picking up the pace, thinking it wouldn't be a moment too soon to get out of the disturbing gallery.

Dalia stopped flat and turned, she could have sworn she'd heard a soft step behind her. She squinted her eyes, trying to find something in the deep darkness of the hallway she'd been traveling through. She was as still and quiet as she could, almost enough to hear her own heart beat picking up the pace. She regretted standing still so long when she heard a loud huff, like the one a bull makes when about to charge.

Dalia turned and ran as fast as she could, almost falling head on a couple times, but she wouldn't stop or look back. She could hear the loud breathing and grunting of whatever was after her, the heavy patting of the beast's paws sprinting down the hall. Tears started rolling down her cheeks, and her legs were starting to give in little by little. She had just reached the top of a not so soft hill in the hall and was sprinting downwards, without realizing there were no more paintings to be seen, nothing but pitch black in front of her.

Dalia hit the wall at the end of the hall head first, she would've never been able to tell it was there. She fell to the floor, covering her face with her hands, and half crawled her way to the corner to her left, crying. She knew the beast was right in front of her, she could feel the monster's warm breath flowing over her hands. She wouldn't move her hands, half because of the pain streaks running through her face, and half because she feared to lay eyes on whatever was in front of her. The beast was just standing there, waiting her to open her eyes.

After a minute sobbing and weeping, which seemed to go on forever, curiosity got the best of her and she slowly lowered her hands. She didn't open her eyes quite yet, she was gathering her courage together. Whatever was going to happen, was to happen the moment she'd lay eyes on that thing. She broke a couple more sobs, as the beast huffed hard on her face, demanding attention.

She finally opened her eyes and saw in front of her a creature worse than she could have imagined: The monster was crouching almost atop of her, 2 meters tall on two lion like legs, covered in full in dark brown fur smeared with red stains. It's arms were long enough to reach the floor, with long blade shaped fingers ending in ebony claws. A goat's head sported blood red, snake like eyes, which pulsated a hue that seemed to suck what little light was around. The beast opened it's maw and without moving it at all, it's gravely deep voice reverberated through Dalia's head:

_-This is no place for you, bright one. Please, leave._

Dalia was amazed at not being dead right now, not to mention the scariest thing she'd ever even imagined, just said "please".

-But... but how?

_-Leave bright one, while you are bright still._

-I want to leave, but I don't know how...

The beast closed it's maw and slowly stood up to it's full height, it's chin almost touching it's chest as he maintained eye contact with Dalia. The hue around it's eyes grew larger, and started spinning inwards as a black hole would. The beast slowly opened it's maw again, and in the blink of an eye, threw itself at Dalia, stabbing it's fingers into the wall right besides her, it's nose an inch away from her face.

_-LEAVE!_

Dalia violently woke up, throwing kicks and slaps around her, screaming and fighting with her entangled bed sheet, landing a few hits on the bed's side. The pain from a bad punch made her flinch, she stopped and looked around. She smiled as she rubbed her soar knuckles.


End file.
